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How much do you have wrapped up in your hobby?

What do you have wraped up in this hobby we call beekeeping i have 4 years and 8000.00 so far. I have enough wood ware to make 20 hives 20 nucs i have 2 bee yards and are fenced in with electric /3 bee suits/ 1 bee jacket / every book out there/ foger/. the list is long this hobby is very addicting

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

I would say at this point in time that I have 0$ in my beekeeping. Entering 10th year of beekeeping and I am fairly certain(I didn't start keeping good records of income and expenses until last 3 years or so) I have made more $$ on honey sales and bee sales that I am at a break even or profit (Don't tell the IRS) LOL I have grown slowly thru splits, swarms, and cut outs. At this point in time something doesn't get purchased for the bees unless they pay for it. I am attempting to put this same philosophy to work with my chickens, but I haven't found enough customers for the eggs yet

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

I have not kept records on my costs, I guess I really did not want to know how much was spent. Someday I will break even but I will never know when this will occur. Not knowing how much i have spent keeps beekeeping less stressful for me.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

The cost of equipment. I don't want used or stuff that is only going to last a short time. I do build my own tops and bottom boards and assemble my frames and boxes. This year I plan to add 60 or 80 more hives a second 20 frame extractor, a capping spinner, and a clarifier. It's also time to start looking at barrels instead of buckets. With this comes more cost and I only have so much cash so i'm going slower then I want.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

I am in for about $4K since 2009 learning beekeeping. Don't get me wrong, I love it! It just does not seem to be easy in my climate and I am in AHB territory so I always purchase packages from up north. The most I have kept is four hives never having more that two overwinter. I have enough equipment to have four hives with two deep brood boxes and three supers on each. Including tools, supplies and gadgets.

“Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not yet the end”

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

I will have about $3,500 into 16 hives by spring. Another $2k into investing to build hives for other people, and to buy bottles and such for honey. Hopefully that $2k will have a quick return on it though.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

Less than $1000 if you don't count my fencing. But I spent oh, about $1200 on fencing to keep the bees safe from harm and the neighborhood safe from the bees. There were other benefits to the fencing. Well I forgot that first $300 that was a total waste. I want to say less than $1500 though, plus the fence. I'm at 5 hives and they are "robust".

Stuck in Texas. Learning Permaculture in drought, guess I will teach permaculture in drought. The bees are still alive.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

I have one hive. I bought it off Craigslist last July complete with bees and transported it to my place. Since then, I have spent over $1000 on bees. Lumber and metal for hives and frames. Foundation and frames. Tools and odds and ends. Bee Jacket. Table saw, cordless tool set, woodworking clamps, air nailer and compressor, misc other stuff. I did not skimp much other than make the stuff myself. I can state I do not really save much by making it myself, but I enjoy it. And I don't really skimp and try to save, it is a hobby. My profit is not monetary.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

Originally Posted by Michael Palmer

Everything but our house.

I feel your pain Michael - I think we have around 250K over the 20 years but don't worry - the bee business is great and I'm sure we could get at least half that if we sold it tomorrow (minus capital gains, current debt load and such)

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

No pain Joel. I'm lovin' it. I paid $100 or less per hive for my production yards over the last 40 years. I build all my nucs from scrap wood and raised the bees myself. All costs were expensed. I've kept up with rebuilding my equipment with cheap pine so it's in pretty good shape. Apiaries are selling for $200+/colony.

Re: How much do you have wraped up in your hobby?

For 2012 I started keeping better track of my spending and sales. Good thing I did because as the year went on I decided to do the farm form for IRS. I didn't keep some of my receipts, like for mason jars and some of my hardware, but over all with all the new equipment and supplies I got I came out a few hundred ahead. I increased from 8 hives to 18 with enough equipment to have 21 hives and 3 nuks, more extracting equipment etc, odds and ends to make the work easier and faster.

For 2013 I hope to have much more coming in than going out, plus all the more fun! Still, it will only be extra money for me, never a main income. I love that it pays for itself with a little pocket money and plenty of honey to give to family and friends. What other hobby can boast that claim?

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Prvb 16:24
March 2010; +/- 30 hives, TF